As illustrated in FIG. 7, a conventional probe apparatus includes, in a probe chamber, a mounting table 1 for mounting thereon an object to be inspected (e,g., a wafer W) and incorporating therein an elevation mechanism and a rotation mechanism; an X-stage 2 supporting the mounting table 1 and movable in an X direction; a Y-stage 3 supporting the X stage 2 and movable in a Y direction; a probe card 4 disposed above the mounting table 1; and an alignment mechanism 5 for aligning probes 4A of the probe card 4 with the wafer W. In the probe chamber, after aligning the wafer W and the probes 4A by using the alignment mechanism 5, the mounting table 1 is moved in X, Y, Z directions on a base 6 by means of the X-stage 2, the Y-stage 3 and the elevation mechanism to bring the wafer W into an electric contact with the probes 4A, whereby electrical characteristics of the wafer W are inspected by the probes 4A. The X-stage 2 and the Y-stage 3 are individually moved in the X and Y directions, by driving mechanisms connected to ball screws, respectively. FIG. 7 shows a ball screw 2B included in the driving mechanism of the X-stage 2 and a motor 3A included in the driving mechanism of the Y stage 3.
Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the alignment mechanism 5 includes a lower charge coupled device (CCD) camera 5A and an upper CCD camera 5B and is operated under the control of a controller. The lower CCD camera 5A is installed at the mounting table 1 to capture an image of the probes 4A of the probe card 4 from below, while the upper CCD camera 5B is disposed at the center of an alignment bridge 5C to capture an image of the wafer W on the mounting table 1 from above. The alignment bridge 5C is moved from an innermost side in the probe chamber to a probe center in a direction marked by an arrow in FIG. 7 along a pair of guide rails (not shown) that are extended in the Y direction (front-rear direction).
In performing an inspection of the wafer W, the alignment mechanism 5 aligns electrode pads of the wafer W with the probes 4A. Then, by moving the mounting table 1 in the X, Y, and Z directions, the electrode pads of the wafer W are brought into electric contact with the probes 4A to inspect the electrical characteristics of the wafer W. As the inspection is repeated, metal oxides on the surface of the electrode pad are worn away and adhered to needle tips of the probes 4A, which would hinder following inspections. Thus, the needle tips of the probes 4A are polished by using a polishing member 7 shown in FIG. 7 to remove the particles adhered to the needle tips.
Meanwhile, if the number of devices simultaneously measured by the probes 4 increases as the size of the probe card 4 is increased, the area of the probe card 4 occupied by the probes 4A (hereinafter, simply referred to as “probe area”) gets larger than the size of the polishing member 7, so that it becomes impossible to polish the probes 4A with the conventional polishing member 7. In such a case, though the probes 4A may be polished after separating the probe card 4 from the probe apparatus, a considerable amount of time is required for the separation and reinstallation of the probe card 4, which results in deterioration of a polishing efficiency.
Japanese Patent Laid-open Application No. 2000-164649 (Reference 1) discloses a method for polishing probes by using a polishing member of a wafer size mounted on the mounting table 1 without separating the probe card from the probe apparatus. Further, Japanese Patent Laid-open Application No. 2000-183119 (Reference 2) describes a probe apparatus using a polishing member having a size suitable for a probe area of a probe card, wherein the polishing member can be rotated to correspond to a direction of the probe area which varies depending on the type of the probe card.
In Reference 1, though the polishing member can be changed in accordance with the type of the probe card, the polishing member has to be newly installed every time a polishing of probes is conducted. Thus, a considerable amount of time is required for the installation of the polishing member, so that the efficiency of the polishing work is deteriorated. Further, an additional device for installing the polishing member is required, thereby increasing a cost. Besides, in case of a large probe card capable of contacting with the entire region of a wafer at one time, although it is possible to polish all of the probes of the probe card simultaneously, it is inevitable that the same portions of the polishing member are used repetitively because the polishing member cannot be index fed. Thus, the polishing member cannot be utilized efficiently. Moreover, due to the large size of the polishing member, an extra space is required for the accommodation of the polishing member, which increases the entire size of the probe apparatus.
In Reference 2, to change the direction of the polishing member having a size suitable for a probe area to correspond to the direction of the probe area, the polishing member sometimes needs to be elevated higher than a mounting surface of the mounting table depending on the direction of the probe area. Thus, a rotation mechanism and an elevation mechanism for the polishing member are additionally needed, which makes the entire mechanism of the probe apparatus complicated. Further, since the same portions of the polishing member are repetitively used to polish probes as similar to the case of Reference 1, the work efficiency of the polishing member is poor. Moreover, there are required the extra space for accommodating the polishing member having the size suitable for the probe area and a space for allowing the direction change of the polishing member, so that the entire size of the probe apparatus is increased.